Distortion check for welding apparatus



L. C. POWELL DISTORTION CHECK FOR WELDING APPARATUS Filed ,Jan. 28, 19362 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 L. C. Powell April 6, 1937.

A: oooo ooooMVoozoooo April 6, 1937. c. POWELL DISTORTION CHECK FORWELDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 6,1937- DISTORTION CHECK FOR WELDING APPARA TUS Laurence 0. Powell,Portsmouth, Va.

Application January 28, 1936, Serial No. 61,255

4 Claims. (Cl. 113--99) This invention relates to welding devices andmore particularly to a form used for holding articles which are adaptedto be welded together.

An object of this invention is to provide a means in the form of a plateor table with clamping means thereon so that different types of articlesmay be firmly clamped on the plate or table and held in the desiredposition so that the articles may be welded together.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a device of this kindmeans whereby the bodies of the two articles which are to be weldedtogether may be maintained in a relatively cooled condition and only arelatively narrow strip of each article exposed.

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby thearticles to be welded togetherfwhere the articles are relatively thinplates, may be held against buckling with the bodies of the articlescooled by'a cooling agent and maintained in spaced relation to the bedor clamping plate.

The above and various other objects and advantages of this inventionwill in part be described in, and in part be understood from thefollowing detail description of the present preferred embodiment, thesame being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan of a device constructed 3 according to anembodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

35 Figure 4 is a perspective view of the slotted guide and clamping barsv Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form ofcooling means for the articles to be welded.

4 Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse section through one of the tubularcooling members shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings wherein like symbols designate correspondingparts throughout the 45 severalviews, the numeral I0 designates gener-'ally a bed in the form of a rectangular plate II which is provided ateach end with dependent flanges I3 so that the plate II will be disposedin upwardly spaced relation to a supporting sur- 50 face on which theflanges or legs I3 are resting. The bed I0 is preferably made of metalof suitable thickness and is provided on the upper surfact thereof witha plurality of spaced apart holes 'I2 which are threaded in order toreceive 55 threaded clamp tightening members I4. Where two plates areadapted to be welded together in abutting relation, the two plates aredisposed on top of the bed I0, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. One plate I5is disposed in the desired position on top of the bed Ill and the otherplate I 6 is dis- 5 posed with the edge to be welded abutting againstthe adjacent edge of the plate I5.

A tubular gasket I1 is interposed between th plate I5 and the top of thebed II) and a similar gasket I8 is disposed between the plate I6 and the10 top of the bed II]. These gaskets I1 and I8 are bent in substantiallyrectangular shape, the shape of the gaskets being determined primarilyby the shapes of the articles which are to be welded together, it beingunderstood that these gaskets I1 and I8 are readily conformable to theshapes of the articles which are being welded together. Preferably,these gaskets I1 and I8 are hollow and are formed with an outer coveringI9 which is preferably of asbestos or like material 20 which is notreadily affected by heat. One end of each gasket I1 and I8 is adapted tobe connected to a source of cooling supply in the form of water or otherliquid and the other end is adapted to be connected to an outlet so thatthe 26 cooling agent may freely flow through the gaskets and therebymaintain the marginal portions of the plates to be welded in a cooledcondition.

The plates I5 and I6 are securely held on the bed II! by means of aplurality of clamping mem- 30 bers in the form of blocks 20 which areprovided with an elongated slot 2I through which the tightening memberI4 is adapted to pass. The tightening bolts I 4 are provided with nuts22 and I a washer 23 so that these nuts 22 may be turned down againstthe upper faces of the clamping blocks 2|] and thus tightly hold theplates I5 and I6 against the gaskets I1 and I8. As shown in Figure 2,the inner or abutting edges of the plates I5 and I6 have an elongatedslotted clamping or guide bar 24 secured thereover as by securingmembers 25. The clamping bar 24 has an elongated slot 26 extendinglongitudinally thereof and this slot 26 is of such a widththat thewelding tool may readily engage the abutting edges of the two plates I5and I6. Preferably, the slot 26 is undercut, as shown in Figure 2, sothat when the abutting edges of the plates I5 and IB are heated underthe flame or welding tool, the guide member 24 will not be undulyaffected by the heat.

A plurality of elongated bars 21 are disposed between the plates I5 andI6 and the bed I0 and are disposed inside the gaskets I1 and I8. Thesebars 21 are adapted to prevent the plates I5 and ing operation. Ifdesired, some form of weight may be placed on top of the plates I and H5inside the clamping members 20 so that the plates I5 and It will be heldagainst upward buckling by such weights.

In Figure 5, there is shown a modified form of cooling means for theplates which are to be welded together and in this form one of theplates I6 is provided with suitable spaced apart openings and a pipeconnection 28 is threaded into one of the openings and a pipe 29 securedto this connection 28. This connection 28 is an inlet connection and adiagonally disposed outlet connection 3D- is threaded into an openingprovided in,the plate [6' and an outlet pipe 3! connected to thisconnection or L30. In this form the gasket l8 may either be solid orhollow and is preferably of substantially endless construction. The bedl0 used with the modified form of cooling means is the same bed as thatshown in Figures 1 and 2 and the plate I6 is adapted to be clamped bymeans of the clamping members and the tightening elements I4 and 22.These clamping members are not shown in Figure 5 but it will beunderstood that the plate I6 with the abutting plate will be firmlyclamped to the bed Ill in the same manner as the plates [5 and l 6. Thespace between the underside of .the plate l6 and the top of the bed l0may also be partly filled by means of a plurality of blocks so as tothereby prevent downward buckling of the plate I6 during the weldingoperation.

In the use and operation of this device, the articles which are to bewelded together are placed on the bed l0 and the gaskets l1 and I8interposed therebetween. The blocks 21 are positioned inside the gasketsI1 and I8 and then the clamping blocks 20 are placed in position so asto tightly hold the plates I5 and IS with their abutting edges in thedesired relation to each other so that a butt weld may be formed. Itwill, of course, be understood that the device hereinbefore describedmay be used for other forms of welding than butt welding. The desiredcooling agent is forced through the hollow gaskets I! and I8 and afterthe clamping bar 24 has been disposed in proper position with the slot26 exposing'tli'e joint to be welded, the tool may be moved along theslot 26 and the joint properly welded. The guide bar 24 will serve as aguid-- ing means for the tool and the use of the undercut slot 26 willpermit the desired quantity of welding metal to be placed along theabutting ends of the two plates [5 and 16. As shown in Figure 2, theholes l2 preferably do not extend entirely through the bed I0 so thatwhere the cooling means shown in Figure 5 is used the wa- Hi frombuckling downwardly during the weldter or other cooling agent will notleak out through the underside of the bed III.

In the construction shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the area inside thegaskets l1 and I8 may also be filled with a cooling agent after themanner of the construction shown in Figure 5 so that not only themarginal edge portions ofthe plates to be welded may be cooled but alsothe entire bodies of the plates may be cooled. This latter procedure maybe accomplished by closing the spaces be- .tween the ends of the gasketsl1 and I8.

Where the plates are relatively thin the plates may be held againstupward buckling by using a number of elongated bars 24 across the uppersurfaces of the two plates, these bars 24 not only acting as a clampingmeans but also as a means to prevent buckling of the plates in an upwarddirection and by the use of these bars 2| any awkward weights on top ofthe plates will be eliminated and the welding operation therebyfacilitated.

I claim:- 1. A device as set forth comprising a relativel fiat bedprovided with a plurality of spaced apart holes in the upper surfacethereof, a plurality of clamping members engaging in said holes andadapted to tightly hold an article to be welded on top of the bed, andmeans adapted to be interposed between the article to be welded and thetop of the bed for cooling the article to be welded.

2. A device as set forth comprising a relatively fiat bed provided witha plurality of threaded holes in the upper surface thereof, threadedclamping members engaging in said holes, and a tubular cooling memberadapted to be disposed inwardly of said clamping members and interposedbetween the article to be welded and the top of the bed.

3. A device as set forth comprising a bed provided with a plurality ofthreaded holes in the upper surface thereof, a plurality of threadedclamping members engagingin said holes and adapted to be disposed aboutthe marginal portions of a pair of articles to be clamped on to the bedand elongated welding bar overlying the abutting edges of the articlesto be welded and provided with an elongated slot whereby to expose theabutting edges of the articles and means adapted to be interposedbetween the article to be welded and the top of the bed for cooling thearticle to be welded.

4. A welding device comprising a supporting member for supporting anarticle to be welded, clamping means for holding the article to bewelded on the member, and means adapted to be interposed between thearticle to be welded and said member for cooling the article during thewelding thereof.

' LAURENCE C. POWELL.

